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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Evangelicals Hail Pope's Caserta Visit and Apologize to Catholics

Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe

(Vatican Radio) The
head of the World Evangelical Alliance has hailed Pope Francis’ meeting
with Pentecostals in Caserta and apologised for discrimination of
Catholics by Evangelicals in the past. After an encounter with the
Catholic community in the southern Italian city on Saturday, the Pope
returned to Caserta on Monday where he was welcomed by over 200 members
of the Pentecostal Church of Reconciliation.

Commenting on the impact of that historic meeting, the Secretary
General of the World Evangelical Alliance, Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe
said while the official conversations between Catholics and Evangelicals
are an essential part of the ecumenical journey, the building up of
trust and friendship leads to a deepening of those theological
dialogues. He also talked about the importance of a meeting that he and
other Christian leaders had in June with Pope Francis in the Vatican and
about the legacy of Evangelical leader Tony Palmer who died ten days
ago…..Rev. Tunnicliffe said he believes the work of building up
relationships within the Christian family is extremely important….
“Jesus, in John 17, clearly calls us to be one and I think for those
outside the Church, it’s important for them to understand that while
there are differences within the Christian denominations, at the core we
have so many areas of communality….”

Asked about the impact of Pope Francis’ meeting with Pentecostals in
Caserta, Rev. Tunnicliffe noted that over recent years the World
Evangelical Alliance, which represents some 650 million Christians
around the world, has had growing interaction with the Vatican and the
Catholic Church….”We’re just concluding our 2nd official theological
dialogue which identifies areas of common concerns and areas where we
still differ….but I think Pope Francis reaching out to Evangelicals
bodes well for future conversations, because that will allow us to go
deeper in our interactions together….

Commenting on Pope Francis’ apology for the persecution of
Pentecostals by Catholics in the past, Rev. Tunnicliffe said he wants to
commend the Pope for taking such a public step of asking for
forgiveness….”It is biblical and it reflects the message of Jesus…..so
my hope is that this act of Pope Francis will send a strong message
around the world, particularly to those countries where there are
significant tensions between Catholics and Evangelicals. But I also need
to say this: I recognise that in history there have been situations
where Protestants, including Evangelicals, have discriminated against
Catholic Christians and I am really sorry for these kinds of actions,
because while we can disagree theologically, this should never lead to
discrimination or persecution of the other. We all need to acknowledge
all our failings and ask each other for forgiveness and I think Pope
Francis set a great example”

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